The present invention relates to a thin film transistor matrix substrate for driving a liquid crystal display, and more particularly, to a thin film transistor matrix substrate having electrodes for repairing bus line disconnections and interlayer short-circuits, and to a method for repairing such thin film transistor matrix substrates.
A conventional thin film transistor matrix substrate is described herein with reference to FIGS. 14A and 14B. FIG. 14A shows a plan view of a portion of a conventional TFT matrix substrate 100 including a plurality of gate bus lines 101 (two shown) extending in a lateral direction or X-direction and a plurality of drain bus lines 103 (two shown) extending in a vertical direction or Y-direction. These bus lines 101, 103 are formed on a transparent substrate 100A. In the areas where the gate and drain bus lines 101, 103 cross, the bus lines are electrically insulated from each other by an insulated film (not shown). An accumulated capacitance bus line 102 is provided between each pair of adjacent gate bus lines 101 so that it extends substantially parallel to the gate bus lines 101. A constant ground potential, for example, is applied to the accumulated capacitance bus lines 102. The accumulated capacitance and the drain bus lines 102, 103 are also insulated from each other by an insulation film (not shown) in the areas where they cross.
A thin film transistor (TFT) 104 is formed approximately at each crossing point of the gate and the drain bus lines 101, 103, and includes a drain electrode 104D, a source electrode 104S and a gate electrode (not shown). The drain electrodes 104D of the TFTS 104 in a single column are all connected to a corresponding drain bus line 103, and the gate electrodes (not shown) are connected to a corresponding gate bus line, which in effect, work as the gate electrodes. A pixel electrode 105 (shown in dotted lines) corresponding to each TFT 104 is arranged in a generally rectangular region surrounded by the corresponding gate and drain bus lines 101, 103, and is connected to the source electrode 104S via an opening 107 though an insulated film (not shown) between the pixel electrode 105 and the TFT 104.
The TFT matrix substrate 100 also includes a pair of auxiliary capacitance electrodes 106 which extend from each of the accumulated capacitance bus lines 102 between each pair of drain bus lines 103. Each of the auxiliary capacitance electrodes 106 extends outwardly in the opposite vertical directions, i.e., in the positive and negative Y-directions, near the corresponding pair of gate bus lines 101. The pair of auxiliary capacitance electrodes 106 are arranged so that each is adjacent and generally parallel to one of the pair of the corresponding drain bus line 103 and partially overlaps with one side of the pixel electrode 106. A liquid crystal material (not shown) is held between two common electrode substrates (not shown) which are also provided on the TFT substrate matrix substrate 100. In this manner, an auxiliary capacitance Cs (best seen in FIG. 14B) is formed between the accumulated capacitance bus line 102 and the pixel electrode 105.
FIG. 14B is an electrical circuit equivalent of the TFT matrix substrate 100 of FIG. 14A, and shows that a liquid crystal capacitance CLC is formed between the pixel electrode 105 and the accumulated capacitance electrode 102, and the auxiliary capacitance CS is formed in parallel with the liquid crystal capacitance CLC. Moreover, a floating capacitance CNS is formed between the pixel electrode 105 and drain bus line 103.
When the TFT 104 is not conductive, as when a particular display pixel of the liquid crystal display is not selected, the potential of the corresponding drain bus line 103 changes significantly. As a result, the potential of the relevant pixel electrode 105 also changes, due to the capacitance coupling by the floating capacitance CNS. The resulting voltage variation xcex94V in the pixel electrode 105 is expressed as follow:
xcex94V=CNS/(CNS+CLC+CS)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1) 
The potential variation creates an unwanted gradient of brightness along the scanning direction (direction parallel to the drain bus lines 103) of the display pixels, and crosstalk (uneven brightness), depending on the display pattern.
In the TFT matrix substrate 100 shown in FIG. 14A, the accumulated capacitance bus lines 102 and auxiliary capacitance electrode 106 are provided to increase the auxiliary capacitance electrode CS, thereby reducing the negative influence of the voltage variation of the drain bus lines 103 and enhancing the display quality. In other words, the voltage variation is reduced by inserting the auxiliary capacitance CS in parallel with the liquid crystal capacitance CLC (best seen in FIG. 14B).
As shown in FIG. 14A, the auxiliary electrode capacitances 106 are arranged adjacent the drain bus lines 103 to obtain a large aperture ratio. However, this arrangement at times results in the auxiliary capacitance electrode 106 and drain bus lines 103 being short-circuited, due, for example, to a defective insulated film between these elements or because of alignment errors of patterns of the auxiliary capacitance electrodes 106 and the drain bus lines 103. Further, a short-circuit may also occur between the drain and the gate bus lines 103, 101, and between the drain bus lines and the accumulated capacitance bus lines 102. Moreover, disconnections or cuts on the bus lines 101, 102, 103 may also occur as a result of dust or foreign matters generated during the formation of the electrode and the bus patterns or as a result of a flawed mask, etc.
If the above-described interlayer short-circuits or disconnections of bus lines are generated even at one point, the entire TFT matrix substrate could be considered defective. Therefore, the ability to repair such faults during the manufacturing stage is important in improving manufacturing yield.
A known method of repairing the short-circuits or the disconnections described above is explained with reference to FIG. 15, which shows a schematic plan view of the conventional TFT matrix substrate 100. The TFTs 104 and the pixel electrodes 105 are arranged in the form of a matrix, and a plurality of backup lines 108, 109 (only one each shown in FIG. 15) are arranged in the upper and lower peripheral areas.
In operation, if a disconnection Bo occurs on the drain bus line 103, a repair is performed by connecting both the backup lines 108, 109, which are electrically connected to an external circuit, to the disconnected drain bus lines 103 at two disconnection repairing points Wo and Woo, respectively. In this manner, the backup lines 108, 109 carry the signals which otherwise would have been carried by the disconnected drain bus line 103. The connections at the repairing points Wo and Woo is made by dissolving the insulated and the metal films with irradiation of a laser beam.
One disadvantage of the above-described repair method is that noise is superimposed onto the backup lines 108, 109 due to capacitance coupling, which arises as a result of the backup lines 108, 109 crossing the drain bus lines 103 and being separated from the drain bus lines by an insulated film. To reduce the effect of such noise, the resistance of the backup bus lines 108, 109 could be lowered, which would require widening the width of the bus lines. However, an increase in the width of the bus lines in turn results in an increase in the probability of interlayer short-circuits between the backup lines 108, 109 and the drain bus lines 103, thereby creating conditions in which additional defects may occur.
Moreover, the location where the repair is performed is relatively distant from where the actual defect is located, and therefore, a highly accurate and expensive apparatus for removing the substrate is required for the repair.
Further, the backup lines 108, 109 increase the complexity of the TFT matrix substrate and require extra considerations for eliminating noise caused by the backup lines.
In addition, if the number of disconnections or short-circuits generated in the drain bus lines exceeds the number of backup lines, and if the disconnections or the short-circuits are detected in a plurality of pixels along a single drain bus line 103, a complete repair cannot be made.
Therefore, it is one object of the present invention to provide a TFT transistor matrix substrate which can easily repair a defect in the matrix substrate as a result of short-circuits between the drain bus lines and auxiliary capacitance electrodes, disconnection of the drain bus lines, short-circuit between the drain and the gate bus lines or disconnections of the gate bus lines.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a TFT transistor matrix substrate which makes it easier for an automatic repairing apparatus to locate and repair the defects.
In keeping with a first aspect of this invention, a repairable integrated thin film transistor matrix substrate includes an insulated substrate, and a plurality of parallel gate bus lines and a plurality of accumulated capacitance bus lines formed on the insulated substrate. Each of the accumulated capacitance bus lines extend parallel to and between a pair of the gate bus lines, and has a plurality of auxiliary capacitance electrodes which extend from it. A first insulated film is provided on the gate and accumulated capacitance bus lines and the auxiliary capacitance electrodes.
A plurality of operating films are formed on the first insulated film, and on each of the operating films, corresponding thin film transistors are provided. At least two of the thin film transistors are electrically connected to each of the gate bus lines. Also included is a plurality of parallel drain bus lines which are provided substantially perpendicular to the gate and the accumulated capacitance bus lines on the first insulated film. Each drain bus line electrically connects at least two of the thin film transistors.
In addition, a second insulated film having an opening over each of the thin film transistors is provided on the thin film transistors and the drain bus lines. Further, a plurality of pixel electrodes are provided on the second insulated film, which pixel electrodes are electrically connected to a corresponding one of the transistors via the opening. At least one first portion of at least one of the gate and the drain bus lines overlaps with at least one second portion of at least one of the auxiliary capacitance and the pixel electrodes.
In keeping with a second aspect of this invention, a repairable integrated thin film transistor matrix substrate includes the features described above with respect to the first aspect, with the exception of the feature of the first portion overlapping with the second portion. Additionally, the matrix substrate further includes at least one conductive layer formed on the second insulated film at at least one crossing region where the drain bus lines cross the gate and the accumulated capacitance bus lines.
In keeping with a third aspect of this invention, a repairable integrated thin film transistor matrix substrate includes the features described above with respect to the first aspect, with the exception of the feature of the first portion overlapping with the second portion. Additionally, the matrix substrate further includes one end of at least one of the plurality of auxiliary capacitance electrodes extending across one of the drain bus lines and overlapping with a portion of a selected adjacent pixel electrode to create a first overlapping region.
One method for repairing the repairable integrated thin film transistor matrix substrate described above requires overlapping a first portion on one side of a first defect on a selected one of the gate bus lines and the drain bus lines with a first part of a conductor to create a first overlapping region, and a second portion on the other side of the first defect with a second part of the conductor to create a second overlapping region. Then, the first portion is electrically connected to the first part at the first overlapping region, and the second portion is electrically connected to the second area at the second overlapping region. In this way, the conductor creates an electrical bypass around the first defect.